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Izuku really was an idiot, wasn’t he?
The internet told Izuku that backflips were easy to learn. Shocker, the internet lied.
Izuku was sixty percent sure he had a concussion. Either that or the lights on the ceiling had doubled. Knowing that Principal Nedzu has the ability to change the school at a moment's notice, even if most of the students haven't noticed this. The lights might have doubled…
Maybe Present Mic had a reason for telling the class that if they wanted to use the gyms that they should always bring a buddy. But Izuku didn't have any buddies. He'd tried making friends with the purple haired boy Shinso who sat in front of him in General Studies, but the boy had told Izuku he wasn't there to make friends. And Izuku hasn't had time to make him change his mind yet. Izuku really wanted to be Shinso's friend! He was so cool, and he has awesome hair, and he has the coolest quirk! It would be great for heroics! But when Izuku asked if Shinso wanted to work out with him after school, Shinso had just rolled his eyes and left without a word.
Izuku will be friends with Shinso soon enough. He had a ten step plan in the works. Right now? Izuku needed to get up. Problem was, that sounded a lot easier than it actually is.
Izuku lay on his back, half off the mat, and stared at the multiplying lights longer than he intended.
There’s a loud noise somewhere, Izuku does not like it. His face scrunches up, that somehow causes him more pain though.
Then there’s something blocking the multiplying lights. It’s dark. And big. A lot bigger than Izuku. And there’s maybe three of them.
“There’s just one of me, kid.”
“Oh,” Izuku mumbles.
“How hard did you hit your head?” The mysterious dark blob asks.
“I didn’t. ‘M fine.”
The blob scoffs. “Sure you are, kid.” The blob touches Izuku’s head and neck, then a bright light is shined in Izuku’s eyes. Izuku hisses.
“What the hell?”
“Congratulations, you’ve got a concussion. It seems like a mild one at least. Let’s get you to Recovery Girl before you can do more damage.”
Izuku is pulled up to his feet. Izuku groans. “I l-liked it better on the floor.”
The blob huffs. “I know the feeling. But we gotta get you up.”
“Might v-vomit.”
“That’s okay, just lean to your left please.”
Izuku manages not to vomit and makes it to Recovery Girl’s office. It’s on his way there that he realizes that Eraserhead is the one holding the majority of Izuku’s weight. Izuku has officially embarrassed himself in front of one of his favorite heroes. He’d never live this down.
Izuku is still a little shell shocked that everyone who works at UA is a hero, and can't help but stare star eyed as Recovery Girl checks him out.
She kisses Izuku's cheek, and some of the pain dissipates. “Alright, sonny. If you start vomiting or your pain worsens, call for an ambulance. Head injuries are tricky, take a lot more stamina than most injuries. So be cautious. Now you sit tight while I call your parents.”
Izuku makes a face. “My mom’s at work, she works in an ER, she most likely won't answer. I'm okay to get home by myself though.” Izuku mostly just didn’t want to bother his mom. He was very capable of getting himself home.
Recovery Girl frowns. “Shota, will you take the boy home?”
Izuku's eyes go wide. “N-no, no, really I-I'm o-okay.”
“I don't mind.”
“You’re sure? I really can get home by myself.”
“I insist.”
Izuku frowns, but gathers his bag that Aizawa must have grabbed when he brought Izuku to the nurse.
“Okay, if you're sure.”
Aizawa hums, heading out of the room. Izuku follows.
“I-if you d-don’t mind me a-asking, w-what were you doing in the g-gym?” Izuku asks, now that his head feels a little better and he can think a little more clearly, he'd been curious how the hero had found him.
“Student last call for the gyms is five.” Aizawa says with a shrug. “I was going around to tell everyone to go home.”
Izuku nods a little. That made sense.
“Why were you in the gym by yourself?” Aizawa asks. “You're supposed to use the buddy system when training.”
Izuku frowns. “I t-tried to get Shinso-kun to j-join me, but I haven't talked him into being my friend yet.” Izuku bites his lip. He also noticed that Aizawa’s lip quivers, like he’s fighting a smile. “And I d-don't have any other f-fr-riends. So it was either go by m-myself or not go at all.”
“You're in General Studies, yeah?” Izuku nods. “What are you training for?”
Izuku goes a little red. “I w-want to get into the hero course. The practical exam was a little out of my d-depth. I p-pa-panicked. But if I do well enough in the Sports Festival, t-then maybe I can get transferred.”
Aizawa hums. “What's your quirk?”
Izuku looks down at his shoes. “I'm q-quirkless.” He says quietly.
“Being a hero will not be an easy path.” Aizawa says. Izuku sighs, yeah, he's well aware of that. “But if you really want it, you're going to have to work harder than all of your peers. You should try talking to Kirishima or Ida from 1-A. Either of them would be more than willing to train with you after school.”
Izuku's head swims as he looks up a little too fast to stare at the teacher beside him. “What?” Izuku mumbles.
“Ida’s class rep, if someone needs a buddy to train with, he'll know. And Kirishima is very kind, and makes friends with everyone. He'll agree.” Aizawa shrugs. “If you're serious about being a hero you need someone to train with.”
“You… You're not going to try to talk me out of it?” Izuku mumbles. When Izuku asked All Might all those months ago if he could be a hero, even he tried to talk Izuku out of it. “ Be more realistic .” He'd said.
“I don't want to find you on the floor of the practice room again thinking there's three of me.” Aizawa says.
“Not getting someone to t-train with. Being a hero. You're not going to t-talk me out of it?”
Aizawa frowns, and looks at Izuku from the corner of his eye. “Why would I do that?”
“Be-because I'm quirkless. Be-because everyone tries to talk me out of it.”
Aizawa raises an eyebrow. “Has that worked?”
“No.” Izuku says. “I want to be a hero more t-than anything.”
Aizawa shrugs, looking forward again. “Then I will help with what resources I can. I'm a teacher, that's what we do.”
Izuku stares at the man. “That’s new… But okay, sure.” Izuku mumbles. Maybe his head wasn't as right as he thought it was. Or maybe it's just the exhaustion finally hitting him? He's not sure.
“Backseat.” Aizawa says. Izuku was so lost in his head he didn't even realize they were in the parking garage. Wait… did UA have a parking garage? Where the hell are they? After looking around, Izuku assumes they’re underground. He guesses that makes sense, after all the heroes have to get to work somehow. Izuku can’t believe he never thought about it before.
Izuku slips into the backseat, and is met by floating purple hair in the seat next to him. “Hi Shinso-kun.” Izuku mumbles.
Purple eyes look up from the phone they were focused on. “Why?” the boy asks, clearly exhausted.
“I hit my head t-tr-trying to learn a backflip. Recovery Girl said she didn't want me getting home by m-myself, and my mom's working.” Izuku tilts his head. “W-why are you here Shinso-kun?”
“Awe, poor little listener. How's the head?” Izuku slowly turns to look in the driver's seat and finds Present Mic. Aizawa had gotten into the passenger seat, looking to already be asleep against the car's window.
“Hi, Present Mic Sensei.” Izuku mumbles. Why was Izuku's homeroom teacher here too? Can Izuku also blame this on his hurt head? Oh! They probably carpool! “Um… Re-recovery Girl p-patched me up. I-I'm okay. N-no blood.
“Glad to hear it. I'll be your taxi driver tonight, where we going?” Present Mic asks with a huge smile on his face.
Izuku blue screens for a moment before rattling off his address.
Present Mic starts driving. “I'm adopted.” Shinso-kun says.
Izuku looks back to the purple haired boy. Izuku blinks. “Oh, cool.”
Shinso-kun pinches the bridge of his nose, sighs deeply, before looking back at Izuku. “That's why I'm in the car.” He says slowly.
“S-sorry, my head isn't c-co-ompletely all there yet.” Izuku mumbles. He doesn't want Shinso-kun to be mad at him. He wants him to be his friend.
“Midoriya says you wouldn't train with him.” Aizawa says from the front seat, making Izuku jump. “You could have invited him to our training session.”
Shinso-kun frowns. “You spend all day with kids you have to teach, I assumed you wouldn't want another one just showing up.” Shinso-kun shrugs.
“The problem child can come.”
Izuku blinks. “Oh, I-I don't w-want to intrude.”
Shinso-kun looks over at Izuku. “How the hell did you meet him once and get upgraded to problem child so fast?”
Izuku furrows his eyebrows together. “If I'm b-being honest, Shinso-kun, I'm b-barely following the c-conversation.” Izuku mumbles quietly, hoping the adults won't hear.
Present Mic tries to hold in his laugh, and doesn't do a very good job at it, so Izuku assumes he didn't whisper quietly enough.
“Problem Child wants to transfer to the hero course through the Sports Festival.” Aizawa says. “You two training together to achieve something you both want will help you both.”
Present Mic smiles over at Aizawa, and something clicks in Izuku's head.
Izuku's head whips too quickly as he looks at Shinso-kun with wide eyes. Shinso-kun’s words are just sinking in. “Y-you got adopted by Present Mic and Eraserhead? How the hell did you m-manage that?”
Shinso-kun raises an eyebrow. “Dad found me living on the street. So he picked me up by the scruff of my neck like one of his cats and brought me home.” Shinso-kun says it with such a straight face, Izuku isn't sure if he's supposed to laugh or not.
“You got two superhero dads.” Izuku mumbles instead. “That's so cool! My mom works at the hospital, in the ER, so we both have super parents!” Izuku smiles. “See, Shinso-kun we have so much in common! We would make great best friends!”
Shinso-kuns eye twitches. “And what about your dad?” He asks.
Izuku’s smile dims a little. “Oh, he walked out on us after I got diagnosed as q-quirkless. Auntie M-mitsuki said it was for the best though. Because he was a stank ass motherfucker who never t-treated my mom right anyway.” Izuku shrugs, he hears Aizawa snort and Present Mic gasps a little. “I know last t-time I asked you didn't w-want to answer, but I gotta know Shinso-kun! Who's your favorite hero?”
Shinso-kun stares at Izuku for a long moment. Izuku waits on the edge of his seat. “It's Midnight.” Shinso says plainly. “Now stop staring at me like that.”
“T-that's such a great answer! Mine’s All Might,”
“Of course it is.” Shinso-kun mumbles.
“But Midnight’s quirk is so cool! And how she changed how hero costumes are made is such an incredible story! She really changed the industry as a whole with that and-” Izuku starts rambling about Midnight and nobody stops him. He hasn't even realized he went on that long until the car stops and they're in front of his apartment building.
“That's all so cool, little listener!” Present Mic says with a smile. Izuku blushes.
“T-thanks for the ride home. Sorry to m-make you go out of your way.”
“It was no problem at all!” Present Mic says.
“Make sure if you start feeling dizzy, if you throw up, or if the pain worsens you call for help.” Aizawa says sternly.
“Oh, yes. Of c-course!” Izuku says.
“Give me your phone.” Shinso-kun says before Izuku can open the door. Izuku frowns but hands over his unlocked phone. “There.” Shinso-kun says. “Text me later so I know you didn't die.”
Izuku is given back his phone with one new contact in it. Izuku can't help but beam. “Okay Shinso-kun!”
“We'll see you at training after school on Wednesday.” Aizawa says.
Izuku smiles brightly and agrees. He says his goodbyes and heads up to his apartment.
Usually when Izuku gets injured, it ruins his whole day. But this time he got a mentor and he even got Shinso-kun’s number! Izuku is having the best day ever, he's so glad he tried that backflip!